He took he hand again. “Jason didn’t make it through surgery.”
“Oh.” Eliza glanced away. Rabb caught her chin in his hand and turned her head back toward him.
“Talk to me,” he prompted.
“I wished he’d lived. I’d rather he’d gone to prison for a lot of years to pay for what he’d done.” Eliza sighed and shook her head. “Another part of me is glad he’s gone. That I won’t have to worry about him five or ten or twenty years down the road. Is that wrong of me?”
“No, baby, not wrong at all.” He wished he could lift her into his arms and cuddle her close, but she had too many tubes and wires attached to her. Thankfully, they were only temporary. The nurse had assured him earlier that if Eliza continued to improve they’d be removing them later today. “It’s natural.”
Eliza’s eyes drifted shut. “I’m so tired.” Her voice was little more than a whisper, but it tore at his heart.
“You rest. I’m right here beside you.”
She nodded and turned her head away. Rabb tightened his grip on her hand, not willing to relinquish his hold on her.
* * * * *
It seemed as if it took her forever to climb the stairs to Rabb’s apartment. Eliza took one slow step at a time, very aware of Rabb hovering behind her. Only her arms had sustained any major injuries, but for some reason, she simply didn’t seem to have much energy. The doctor had warned her that was to be expected.
And while she knew what to expect from the last time she’d been stabbed, it had still surprised her just how weak she was. But she’d get stronger with time until Jason and her injuries were nothing more than a memory.
“Sorry I’m so slow.” Honestly, snails moved faster.
“Don’t worry about it.” He placed his hand on the small of her back and rubbed. Rabb had been by her side her every minute of the past thirty-six hours. Eliza was glad the doctor had released her just before lunch. If he hadn’t, she might have been tempted to make a break for freedom. She’d rest better at home.
Home.
This really wasn’t her home, was it? It was Rabb’s. But for the first time in what seemed like forever, Eliza could plan for a future.
“Almost there,” he told her. She knew he wanted to carry her up the stairs, but she’d insisted on doing it herself. It would be all too easy to let Rabb take care of everything. And that was something she wasn’t about to do. He’d done so much for her already. Too much.
She shivered just remembering Rabb fighting with Jason. It hadn’t been at all like what you see in the movies. Actual fighting was brutal and dirty and unpredictable.
Eliza reached the landing and let out a sigh of relief. Rabb moved around her, still juggling all her belongings, including the gorgeous quilt his mother had made. It still amazed her how kind and accepting the entire Hatter family was, especially considering the violence she’d brought into their lives.
Rabb opened the door and stood back to allow her to enter. Sun streamed in through the living room window, illuminating the people standing next to the dining table. A huge banner with Welcome Home emblazoned on it was strung between two ceiling beams. The table was set with linen and fine china and a huge cake sat in the center.
“Welcome home,” they chorused.
Eliza was dumbfounded. She stood there, unable to move as tears welled in her eyes. She didn’t quite know what she should do. Rabb leaned down and kissed her on her neck and whispered in her ear. “Welcome home, baby.”
Her trembling grew worse to the point she thought she might fall. But before that could happen, Irene Hatter swept forward and pulled her into a gentle hug. “I know we’re overwhelming, so we won’t stay long. We just wanted to celebrate your homecoming.” Irene’s citrus perfume surrounded her. It was different from the fragrance she wore last month. Rabb’s mother did like to mix things up.
Frank Hatter was next. He was very careful not to jostle her arms, which were starting to throb, reminding her it was time for her medication—to fight both pain and infection. Frank was so like Rabb it brought tears to her eyes.
“It’s okay, little girl,” he told her. “You’ll see. Everything will be fine.” And Frank said it with such conviction she believed him.
Nevar was next in line to hug her and then Allison. The other woman whispered in her ear. “You’ll get used to them.”
Would she? She knew she wanted to with a fierceness that surprised her. She wanted it all—Rabb, his family, a job she loved. And it was all possible now. She just had to be willing to work and fight for what she wanted.
Well, she’d always had to work hard, so that wasn’t a problem. She glanced over her shoulder at Rabb, who stood patiently behind her. What did he want? That was the big question and one they’d have to discuss.
But not now. Later. Now she wanted to sit at the dining room table, sip tea and eat cake with all these wonderful people. “I need to sit,” she announced. Before she fell down. She was so incredibly weak.
Rabb scooped her off her feet and sat in the chair at the head of the table with her ensconced in his lap. “I can manage by myself,” she told him. She glanced at the others, slightly embarrassed by Rabb’s actions. They simply smiled and carried on as though her sitting in his lap was nothing out of the ordinary.
“I can’t.” He buried his face in her hair and inhaled deeply.
She realized that he’d been as shaken by everything that had happened as much as she had. She patted his chest, no longer caring what the others might think. Rabb needed her.
But they weren’t paying her and Rabb the least bit of attention. Irene and Allison were busy serving tea—she’d quickly learned that only tea got served at major Hatter celebrations—while Frank was busy cutting the cake.
Nevar held up his cell phone. “Smile,” he told them before he snapped a picture.
Eliza laughed. “I look like a mess.” Her red hair was tumbling loose around her shoulders because she hadn’t had anything to tie it back with at the hospital.
“You look beautiful,” Rabb told her.
“I want a picture of your family and the cake,” she told him. She wanted to capture this special moment forever.
Rabb reached into his pocket, drew out his phone and held it up. “Hey,” he called out, snapping the photo when they all looked up. His mother laughed while his father just grinned.
He set the phone down next to him and took one of the cups of tea that his mother had placed in front of them and handed it to her. She took it with both hands, afraid she would spill it otherwise.
“Nevar, can you hand me that bag?” Rabb asked his brother.
“Sure.” Nevar grabbed it and place it on the table beside Rabb.
He opened it and dug inside, pulling out her two bottles of pills. “You need to take these.”
She felt her heart expanding, filled with such love for this man. He was always looking out for her. At times it could be overwhelming, but Eliza knew it always came from a place of love. Plus, now that the threat to her was gone she could work on getting him to relax.
Her future was settled in her own mind, and it included Rabb. No more running, no more letting life simply happen. It was time for her to carve out the life she wanted.
She set her teacup on the table, lifted one of the bottles and tried to open it. But trying to wrestle with the darn child-proof lid put a strain on her forearms and her stitches, making her wince.
“Let me do it.” Rabb held out his hand and patiently waited until she handed him the bottle. He glanced at the label and dumped one pill into her outstretched hand. She downed that one while he opened the second bottle.
Once she’d taken her medication, she ate cake and sipped tea. It had always been her grandmother and her once her parents had died. Eliza had never experienced large family celebrations until she’d met the Hatters. They found such joy in everything. It was a good way to live.
After about an hour, her adrenaline surge wore off. That coupled with the pain me
dication had her yawning every few minutes. “I’m sorry,” she told them. She didn’t want them to think she didn’t appreciate all the trouble they’d gone to for her. “Thank you so much for everything.”
“You’re welcome, dear.” Irene beamed at her from across the table. Then she turned her attention to her son. “You take Eliza in to rest. We’ll clean up and then leave you two alone.”
“I didn’t mean to break up the party.” She felt bad about it. And truthfully, she didn’t want it to end. It was a celebration of her new start in life.
“You’re not,” Frank assured her. “Time for me to get back to work anyway.” He rose from the table and began stacking dishes.
“You and Mom can leave those,” Nevar told his father. “You two have to get to work, but I’ve got the bar covered for a few more hours. Allison and I will take care of this.”
Irene kissed both of her sons, Allison and Eliza on the way out. Frank only kissed the women. When his parents were gone, Rabb rose with her still cradled in his arms. “Thanks.”
Nevar slapped him on the back. “No problem. We’ll lock up on our way out.”
Allison already had most of the dishes ferried into the kitchen. She simply waved to them as Rabb carried Eliza down the hall toward the bedroom.
“I don’t know why I’m so tired,” she complained. She wished she could call back her words. She didn’t want to seem ungrateful and she hated whining.
“I don’t know why either.” Rabb lowered her so she was sitting on the side of the bed. He went down on one knee and began to remove her shoes and socks. “Could be because you were attacked less than two days ago, have a ton of stitches, lost quite a bit of blood, are bruised from head to toe and just took a heavy dose of pain medication.”
That recitation startled a laugh out of her. “I guess that does explain it.”
“Can you stand on your own?” he asked her.
She pushed up and the moment she was steady, he tugged her track pants down her legs. The moment he had them around her knees, she sat again. She was feeling a little lightheaded.
He unzipped her hoodie and carefully worked it down her arms. She was naked except for her panties and a white cotton tank. Rabb pulled back the covers and helped her to crawl under them.
Eliza released a sigh of relief. Her entire body ached, but it was starting to dissipate thanks to the medication. Rabb started to leave, but she put her hand out to him. “Stay. You need to rest as much as I do.”
He’d catnapped in the chair at the hospital. She knew that had to have been uncomfortable, plus she didn’t think he’d actually gotten much sleep. Every time she’d opened her eyes, he’d been awake, watching her, standing guard over her.
She patted the mattress. “Stay,” she urged once again. “Just for a little while.”
“For a few minutes.” He kicked off his shoes, shucked his jeans and tugged the curtains shut before he crawled in next to her. He was still wearing his underwear and T-shirt. She wished he were naked. She liked him better that way. But this was good too.
He eased her into his arms so that her head rested on his shoulder. Her right arm wasn’t exactly comfortable in this position, but she didn’t care. It was exactly where she needed to be.
“Rabb,” she began.
“Shh, we’ll talk later.” He brushed a kiss over the top of her head.
They would talk later, when she had more energy and could string more than a few words together in a sentence. They lay together in the darkened bedroom. Eliza could hear the sounds of Nevar and Allison cleaning up from their party. They were comforting sounds, good ones. She snuggled closer to Rabb, content to be exactly where she was.
Chapter Thirteen
Rabb raised his arm and checked his wristwatch. Three hours had passed. He hadn’t expected to sleep, but he felt more alert now. The last couple of days had taken a toll on both of them. He really should be down in the club helping Nevar, but he didn’t want to leave Eliza. Business had slowed down some since the end of the holidays, but Hatter’s was always busy.
Eliza had rolled onto her back at some point. Rabb propped himself up on one elbow and studied her. She looked better than she had, not quite as pale. Her silky red hair flowed like molten fire over the pristine white pillowcase. He reached out and fingered a soft strand.
Eliza stirred and her green eyes fluttered open. She licked her lips and his cock went from relaxed to hard as steel in a heartbeat. “Hey.” Her voice was husky with sleep and really turned him on. But there would be no lovemaking for a few days. Not until her injuries started to heal and she was stronger.
And she’d kick his ass if she could read his thoughts. He knew she hated feeling weak and wouldn’t appreciate him treating her that way. But she’d just have to suck it up and live with it. She’d been injured, damn it. Seeing her blood running down her arms, knowing Jason had hurt her would give Rabb nightmares for years.
“Hey,” he returned her greeting. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
She stifled a yawn. “You didn’t.” She turned her head and he could see the pillow crease on her cheek. It made her look even more adorable. “What time is it?” she asked.
“Almost five.”
She blinked. “Wow, I slept the afternoon away.”
“You needed it. Are you hungry?” She needed to eat to build up her strength. And as much as he loved his family, cake just wasn’t going to cut it.
She stopped and thought about it for a moment. “I could eat something. Maybe some soup.”
“Soup it is.” He started to roll out of bed, but she placed her hand on his arm.
“Wait. Let’s talk first.”
He turned on the bedside lamp and eased back down beside her. “Okay. What’s on your mind?”
She glanced away and chewed on her bottom lip.
“Eliza?” He captured one of her hands, brought it to his mouth and kissed her palm. He was very careful not to jar her injured arm. She sucked in a breath and turned back to face him.
“What happens now?”
He threw the question back to her. “What do you want to happen?” Rabb knew he wanted Eliza with him, in his life and his bed for the next sixty or seventy years.
She shifted restlessly. “I can get a job. Well, a different one,” she amended.
“You don’t like washing dishes,” he teased, even though his stomach was in knots. Was she saying she was leaving?
Her lips turned up in a tiny smile. “It’s fine, but it’s not my chosen career path.”
“What is?” he asked. Rabb seriously wanted to know.
Eliza shrugged. “I’ve always wanted my own place. A coffee shop that opens early and closes around six in the evening. The kind of place people stop in for their morning coffee and come back on their way home from work to pick up some treats to take home. Maybe serve lunch specials. Nothing fancy.”
“You never talked about it when we worked at Bruno’s together.” He gently set her hand back on her stomach and touched the curve of her cheek. “Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”
Eliza sighed. “You had such big dreams. But more than that, you had a plan. I had no savings and a pipe dream.”
“What would you do if money and time weren’t a problem?”
She gave a rough laugh. “Money and time are always a problem.”
“But what if they weren’t,” he countered.
Eliza shrugged. “I’d always wanted to take a baking course. I’ve done some in the various jobs I’ve had over the years and really enjoyed it. I’d started a recipe file for my business before everything happened and things fell apart.”
“You could do that now,” Rabb insisted.
“Now I need a job and a place to live.” Eliza offered him a halfhearted smile. “Maybe sometime down the road I’ll be able to go back to school. Maybe part-time or evening. I’m not sure they even offer baking courses part-time.”
Rabb knew this was his moment. “You could stay here.
With me.”
“Oh Rabb, you’ve already done too much for me. I’m not going to take advantage of your generosity any longer.”
Was that loud crack the sound of his heart breaking? He really thought it might be. “You’re not taking advantage. I want you here.” He took a deep breath and opened himself up totally. “I need you here with me, Eliza. I love you.”
Eliza wondered if she were still dreaming. She blinked several times, but Rabb was still stretched out beside her, propped up on one elbow beside her. His big body was tense, and his brown eyes glittered with lust and some deeper emotion. Love.
He touched her face and the muscles in his biceps rippled with barely restrained power. “Did you hear me?”
She nodded. “You.” She swallowed hard when the words stuck in her throat. “You love me.”
He nodded. “I want you to live with me, share my life and family.”
Eliza’s head was spinning. She knew Rabb cared for her, deeply, but she’d never dreamed he’d return her feelings, at least not so soon. She’d hoped maybe somewhere down the road.
Now his brows drew down and he looked impatient. “Is there anything you’d like to tell me?” he prompted.
“I love you,” she blurted out. “I have ever since I met you.”
His eyes darkened. “Oh Eliza.” He touched her cheek and her jaw before running his thumb over her bottom lip. “So much time wasted.” His features hardened and she recognized the look of determination that came over him. “But no more. You’re staying here.”
She wanted to. More than anything in the world. “Are you sure?” If he changed his mind down the road it would devastate her.
Rabb leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. “I’m sure.” He peered deeply into her eyes. “Are you?”
Eliza nodded. “I am. When I thought I was going to die, all I could think of was the fact we’d never get a chance at a life together. Jason almost took that from us.”
“But he didn’t,” Rabb assured her.
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